thing
their ideas in an imitation of biblical language. Of such stories as
these, it will be as well to give a few specimens.

Among the legends borrowed from the apocryphal books and similar
writings, many of which are said to be still carefully preserved among
the "Schismatics," concealed in hiding-places of which the secret is
handed down from father to son--as was once the case with the Hussite
books among the Bohemians--there are many which relate to the creation
of the world and the early history of man. One of these states that
when the Lord had created Adam and Eve, he stationed at the gates of
Paradise the dog, then a clean beast, giving it strict orders not to
give admittance to the Evil One. But "the Evil One came to the gates
of Paradise, and threw the dog a piece of bread, and the dog went and
let the Evil One into Paradise. Then the Evil One set to work and spat
over Adam and Eve--covered them all over with spittle, from the head
to the little toe of the left foot." Thence is it that spittle is
impure (_pogana_). So Adam and Eve were turned out of Paradise, and
the Lord said to the dog:

"Listen, O Dog! thou wert a Dog (_Sobaka_), a clean beast; through all
Paradise the most holy didst thou roam. Henceforward shalt thou be a
Hound (_Pes_, or _Pyos_), an unclean beast. Into a dwelling it shall
be a sin to admit thee; into a church if thou dost run, the church
must be consecrated anew."

And so--the story concludes--"ever since that time it has been called
not a dog but a hound--skin-deep it is unclean (_pogana_), but clean
within."

According to another story, when men first inhabited the earth, they
did not know how to build houses, so as to keep themselves warm in
winter. But instead of asking aid from the Lord, they applied to the
Devil, who taught them how to make an _izba_ or ordinary Russian
cottage. Following his instructions, they made wooden houses, each of
which had a door but no window. Inside these huts it was warm; but
there was no living in them, on account of the darkness. "So the
people went back to the Evil One. The Evil one strove and strove, but
nothing came of it, the izba still remained pitch dark. Then the
people prayed unto the Lord. And the Lord said: 'Hew out a window!' So
they hewed out windows, and it became light."[425]

Some of the Russian traditions about the creation of man are closely
connected with Teutonic myths. The Schismatics called _Dukhobortsui_,
or Spirit-Wrest